


lemon cake with your girlfriend

by MavenMorozova



Category: Renegades - Marissa Meyer
Genre: Cake, Cooking, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, I just love them<3, It's Nova's Birthday!!, Kissing, Lemon Cakes, Marissa Meyer Nets Gift Exchange, One Shot, Post-Canon, a little bit of angst but not too much, reposted from tumblr, they are GAY i don't make the rules ma'am
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:48:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28320411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MavenMorozova/pseuds/MavenMorozova
Summary: Danna & Narcissa make a cake for Nova's birthday amidst a little bit of reflection on the past.
Relationships: Danna Bell | Monarch/Narcissa Cronin
Kudos: 6





	lemon cake with your girlfriend

**Author's Note:**

  * For [honeyharperofficial284](https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeyharperofficial284/gifts).



> for nevada!! happy holidays babe!! ik you've already read this on tumblr but I'm reposting it to the archive for posterity's sake.
> 
> to everyone else--enjoy!!

“Pass me the lemon extract, will you?” Danna asked.

She was standing in her kitchen, furiously beating the dough together—or was it batter? She was sure she looked ridiculous, with her jacket askew on her arms, one side drooping from her shoulder. And the cake was surely failing. Beside her, Narcissa was leaning on one elbow on the counter, her soft gaze filled with amusement. She was ever-watching.

“Narcissa! Quickly!”

Her girlfriend moved fast, sliding around the small counter peninsula via her socks and rammed open the baking cabinet. “Sorry about that,” she said with a grin once the jar of lemon extract was within Danna’s reach. “I just...was entranced.”

Danna scoffed as she leveled the extract into the measuring cup and dumped it into her bowl. The batter inside yellowed just slightly. “By me failing to make a cake?” she asked incredulously. “This is gonna turn out to be a complete fucking mess.”

“You realize that that’s okay, right, love?” Narcissa asked quietly, pale face coming to rest in the crook of her folded hands as she stared up at Danna. “It’s just for Nova. She’s not really gonna give a fuck.”

Danna tried to ignore the way her heart fluttered when Narcissa called her ‘love’ and attempted to refocus on her task. It worked for a moment, at least, just enough time for the batter to be finished.

Together, the two of them poured the lemon cake mix into a buttered pan and Danna let Narcissa put it into the oven. “It’ll smell heavenly when it comes out,” she remarked, turning back to Danna with a mysterious smile. Again, Danna felt her heart clench with adoration. Nova was beautiful, freckled abundantly with slightly frizzy red hair that was currently tied messily up above her head in an attempt to keep it out of the way while they baked. So far it was working, with only a few strands staying from the tight bun.

‘You sure Nova won’t care?” Danna asked. It had been a long time before the animosity between them over what Danna had dubbed ‘the Nightmare Situation’ had been able to resolve, at least just slightly. But their relationship wasn’t as strong as Danna’s was with the rest of Sketch’s team (yes, even now, they still called it that, their little squad), and Danna wished that it could be better.

It wasn’t her fault though. Nova had wronged  _ her _ , and Danna had had a crush on her at the time of her capture as a butterfly, making the situation so much more complicated. It was hard for her to be completely at ease with Nova around, and yet, she wanted to do the best she could to repair their relationship. She could tell, too, that Nova was attempting to do the same, and it was at least a little endearing. They were both trying.

“A cake?” Narcissa scoffed. “You think after the abusive environment she grew up in, she’s gonna care that a cake is a little less than perfect? It’s gonna be delicious, and that’s what matters.”

Danna frowned, stepping closer to Narcissa and trailing a dark finger across her girlfriend’s forearm. “Don’t be callous, Cissa,” she said. “The small things still matter. And besides, we grew up in an abusive environment, too.”

Narcissa melted into Danna’s touch then, and she held her tightly, adoring the smell of lemon that had somehow seeped into the other girl’s hair. “I don’t know about me,” she mumbled into Danna’s shirt. “I guess you did, though.”

Danna nodded solemnly. She was so glad that everything was all over, that she was safe, that her friends were safe. And most importantly, that Narcissa was well, and with her, and that they’d struck the golden balance that she had always wanted. Someone whom she could love, and stand by and lavish with praise, and receive it all back in kind.

“Plus,” Narcissa added when they pulled apart from their hug, “It’s going to come out beautifully, I can tell.”

Danna was confused for a moment. “What is?”

Narcissa laughed, throwing her head back with her eyes closed. The sun shone on her face through the kitchen window, and Danna suddenly felt a strong desire to kiss her. “The cake, of course!” Narcissa said, still laughing. “Dumbass.”

Danna smiled giddily, then took Narcissa’s hands in hers, pressing the other girl against the counter and kissing her. Narcissa sighed into it, her hands, ensconced in flour, coming to rest around the sides of Danna’s face, leaving pale imprints along her dark skin. Danna laughed as she kissed Narcissa harder, hooking a leg around the other girl’s and brushing back a collection of bright red hairs that had fallen from Narcissa’s bun.

“I love you,” she said softly. “You know how much I love you?”

Narcissa smiled, but when she looked up at Danna, eyes opening widely, Danna saw that her gaze was sad. Bittersweet was a more accurate description, perhaps. “What is it?” she asked, voice hoarse and almost a whisper.

“And do you know you saved me?” Narcissa asked, voice breaking. “Do you know how lonely I was? How lonely we all were?”

Danna knew now, that her girlfriend was not just talking about her, Danna, but the whole initiative she had started for the lost prodigies, the Rejects, in an effort to re-integrate them with society, to tear down the walls that had been upheld between them, the Renegades, and the Anarchists. They were just prodigies now, and none of those stupid subdivided groups. They were one.

There was all of that, layered deeply into Narcissa’s confession.

“I do,” Danna said in reply, feeling wetness seep into her eyes. “And I’m so glad you’re with me now.”

“Me, too,” Narcissa whispered. “I love you, Danna.”

Danna grinned. “We still have a while before the cake needs to come out the oven,” she said slyly, winking. In front of her, Narcissa blushed, lowering her gaze. “Yeah…”

Danna laughed and dragged them over to the couch. “Let’s keep doing this,” she said huskily, fingers undoing Narcissa’s bun. Red curls fell down around them, and Danna buried her face in them, inhaling the lemon scent and laughing into the crook of Narcissa’s neck. “I love you, I love you, I love you,” she whispered. “My sweet Cissa. You’re so beautiful.”

“So are you,” Narcissa said quietly in reply. “You don’t give yourself enough credit.”

“I guess that’s true.”

***

An hour later, the oven beeped, and they both jumped up to retrieve the two cake layers. “Ready to frost?” Danna asked her girlfriend.

Narcissa’s face was still flushed from their kissing, but she nodded. “And don’t worry,” she added as they pulled out the icing they’d made earlier. “Nova will love it. I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> i love themmmmmm<3
> 
> comments are always appreciated!


End file.
